COVID-19: Morocco extends state of health emergency until November 10

The Moroccan government Council, held Thursday in Rabat, has decided to extend the state of health emergency until November 10, 2020, as part of efforts aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

The Council adopted the draft decree extending the state of health emergency throughout the national territory from Saturday, October 10 at 6 p.m. to Tuesday, November 10 at 6 p.m.

 

The extension was decided as the current situation requires keeping the appropriate measures to stop the spread of COVID-19, while ensuring that the measures taken at the level of each region, prefecture or province, are adequate with the evolution of the epidemiological situation.

 

Since it was first declared on March 19 in Morocco, the state of health emergency was extended six times over the course of seven months. Thursday’s extension is the seventh of its kind.

 

The state of emergency, which is not synonymous with lockdown, is a legal framework that allows the Moroccan government to take promptly exceptional measures against COVID-19. The measures include lockdowns on neighborhoods or cities, bans on travel, the closing of gathering places, and the deployment of military troops in cities.

 

The extension comes as Morocco witnesses a record daily increase in COVID-19 cases. The country has been regularly confirming over 1,000 new COVID-19 cases every day for several weeks.

On October 7, the Ministry of Health announced 2,776 new coronavirus infections. This brings the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 140,024.

 

The Ministry of Health also reported 29 more COVID-19-related fatalities, bringing the death toll to 2,439. The mortality rate remains at 1.7%.

 

Morocco counts 424 patients with severe symptoms. Approximately 40 are under artificial respiration.

 

The total number of patients who recovered from COVID-19 now stands at 118,142, with a national recovery rate at 84.4%. Active COVID-19 cases in Morocco stands at 19,443 as of 6 p.m. on Wednesday, October 7.